Yes, it’s early in the season but the Rochester Americans have a showdown for first place tonight.

The Amerks lead the American Hockey League’s North Division with 19 points. The Toronto Marlies, tonight’s opponent, are second with 17 points (and have played one fewer games.

* * * * * * *

The loser will have a chance for instant revenge. There’s a rematch at 3 p.m. Saturday in Toronto.

For the Amerks, yesterday’s news had defenseman T.J. Brennan called up by the parent Buffalo Sabres to replace injured Mike Weber (upper body) on the depth chart.

Brennan wasn’t scheduled to play tonight but the Sabres didn’t want to be short a defenseman just in case someone came down sick or whatever.

RW Jacob Lagace will play for the Amerks. He was hit in the ankle by a Shaone Morrisonn shot in practice on Tuesday, missed Wednesday’s game, but is good to go tonight.

C Travis Turnbull is still out (bell rung by a hit from Tim Conboy last Friday). LW Michael Ryan (upper body) may play next weekend. D Dennis Persson (ankle) is still weeks away.

For Toronto, leading scorer Joe Colborne is on the ice for warmups but a decision on whether he’ll play won’t be made until just before game time.

My belief, after watching him skate: he’ll play.

* * * * * * *

7:36 p.m.: Colborne is indeed in the Marlies lineup. He has scored 10-9-19 in just 12 games.

* * * * * * *

7:44 p.m.: Just on the ice for a shift for the Marlies was former RIT standout Tyler Brenner, who signed with Toronto as a free agent last spring following his final season for the Tigers.

Brenner is still looking for his first goal of the season (0-1-1 in 10 games).

*******

7:48 p.m.: Joe Finley with the game’s first goal, at 6:38, to put the Amerks up 1-0. His first goal as an Amerk (and in the AHL).

Not one for any highlight DVD — just a simple but smart wrister from the left point that somehow zipped past at least four players and past the screened G Mark Owuya.

Shawn Szydlowski and Max Legault with the assists with work behind the net.

* * * * * * *

7:59 p.m.: D Shaone Morrisonn with a very strong tie up of the stick in front of the net to prevent Marlies RW Greg Scott from getting to a rebound of Korbinian Holzer’s point shot on a Toronto power play at 11:35.

* * * * * * *

8:04 p.m.: For anyone at the game, or listening via radio, yes there is an official’s supervisor (Bob Hall) in attendance.

Not that you needed to be told that based on the vise-grip style of officiating by referee Francis Charron.

* * * * * * *

8:06 p.m.: A very good crowd in the building. Most seats from end line to end line are filled in the upper level, and the lower bowl is well populated too.

Probably pushing 7,000.

* * * * * * *

8:13 p.m.: End of one period, Amerks up 1-0. Shots 11-9 Amerks, who controlled the tempo quite well and were strong in their own end.

* * * * * * *

8:30 p.m.: Second period underway, the Amerks with not quite a minute of carryover power play.

* * * * * * *

8:33 p.m.: Amerks goalie David Leggio just made the game’s biggest save, denying Ryan Hamilton on a breakaway at 1:40.

The Marlies winger sped in alone from the neutral zone after too many Amerks got trapped the other way.

* * * * * * *

8:40 p.m.: Not necessarily textbook play (that’s of course the University of Sabres manual) but the period has been entertaining.

Some breakdowns, some misplays, some broken sticks all contributing to chances for both teams. Still 1-0, with 7:14 gone in the second.

* * * * * * *

8:49 p.m.: A rebound goal by Scott after Simon Gysbers point shot hit the right post ties the game at 10:16 of the second.

The scoring chance was the result of Mark Voakes, Derek Whitmore and Colin Stuart all getting trapped deep on the rush. The puck went toward the right corner but the Marlies moved out quickly out of the zone and capitalized off the scramble from the resulting fast break.

As they celebrated the goal, Leggio went to argue with Charron behind the net and, to get tothe referee, bowled over Scott who was standing just to the left of the crease.

I’m not en sure why Leggio was so angry but he got a roughing minor. The Amerks killed it.

* * * * * * *

8:54 p.m.: The last of three advertising timeouts, with 4:37 left in the second.

The Marlies have been the much better team for the past nine minutes, with help from two power plays. The Amerks haven’t had any real sustained forechecking pressure in that stretch.

* * * * * * *

8:55 p.m.: Amerks D-man Alex Biega flips the puck into the crowd from the corner. Another delay of game minor (the Amerks seem to take a lot of those).

* * * * * * *

8:57 p.m.: Attendance is 6,717.

And I miscounted commercial timeouts. Forgot that a penalty prevented the second one, and then there wasn’t a whistle during 5-on-5 play. This is the final ad break, with 17:34 to go in the second period. Still 1-1.

* * * * * * *

8:59 p.m.: From Matt Coller of WGR, who is perusing the web during breaks. Former RIT defenseman Dan Ringwald was promoted from Stockton (ECHL) by the AHL’s Oklahoma City Barons.

* * * * * * *

9:03 p.m.: The shots in the second period, which just ended, definitely tell the story.

Marlies outshot the Amerks 11-3 in the period. That’s pretty much how lopsided the period was, too.

*******

9:20 p.m.: Third period puck drop.

* * * * * * *

9:30 p.m.: A poor play by D Drew Schiestel as he gives the puck away to Colborne just outside the Amerks blue line, but Colborne’s pass on the ensuing 2-on-1 for Mueller is broken up by a hustling, sliding dive by Voakes, at 4:50 of the third.

With 6:18 to go, no change in score.

*******

9:34 p.m.: Leggio with a terrific stop on Colborne to deny the go-ahead goal at 8:00 of the third.

Colborne in on right wing on a 2-on-1, again with Mueller. He looked pass but this time shot from the right circle. Leggio kicked out the right leg to stop the ice-hugging shot.

* * * * * * *

9:37 p.m.: Leggio comes up big again, at 10:15, sliding across his crease to block a Colborne one-timer from the left of the slot, this time from a Mueller pass on a down-low 2-on-1.

Finley got beat along the boards, and Mueller made the pass from deep in the right circle.

There’s 8:51 to go, Marlies with lots of pressure the past six minutes, but it’s still tied.

*******

9:42 p.m.: McNabb had a good chance to put the Amerks ahead, with 6:49 to go, but G Mark Owuya found his wrister through traffic.

*******

9:50 p.m.: Gysbers returns the shoot-the-puck-int0-the-crowd favor. Amerks go to the power play with 3:25 to go.

* * * * * * *

McNabb loses a battle for the puck with Scott and the Marlies sprint in 2-on-1. Mueller to Jerry D’Amigo — the pride of Binghamton goes top shelf over the blocker to give Toronto a 2-1 lead with 2:28 to go. Short-handed goal.

What’s much worse: Marcus Foligno is being helped off — he was trying to crawl off but got no where.

A Nick Crawford point shot hit him directly on the right ankle. He put no weight on it as he left.

* * * * * * *

10:01 p.m.: Marlies hang on and win 2-1. The teams are tied atop the AHL North with 19 points.

Official word has yet to come from the organization — either the Rochester Americans or parent Buffalo Sabres — but defenseman T.J. Brennan said on Twitter (@tj_brennan) that he has been recalled and is headed to Raleigh, N.C.

Sabres defenseman Mike Weber is hurt (upper body, out indefinitely) so the Sabres have only six healthy defensemen to play the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday.

Brennan is coming off a very strong game, and solid week of games. He scored a goal, assisted on another, had six shots on goal and was very good in the D-zone in Wednesday’s 3-2 win over Syracuse.

The third-year defenseman has never played an NHL game, and he’ll probably be a spare part on Friday night.

That’s not what Amerk fans will want to see — one of their key players sitting out — but there’s no way to predict when illness or a puck off the ankle in practice can happen. Just ask Amerks winger Jacob Lagace, who remains out after getting hit by a Shaone Morrisonn shot in practice on Tuesday.

The Amerks were right at the game-limit Wednesday (18 skaters), and since Lagace and Travis Turnbull apparently aren’t ready to go, they’ll need to find a player. They have enough defensemen, though (they dressed eight on Wednesday).

It’s hard to believe that, just 11 days earlier, the Rochester Americans were steamrolled by the Syracuse Crunch on the road, losing 6-2.

Since then, the Amerks have won four straight games, including two over the Crunch in Rochester.

Tonight they won by just a goal, 3-2, but they were the superior team for probably the final 55 minutes. They attacked off the rush. They generated sustained forechecking pressure. They limited the Crunch to just 24 shots (and just 3 in the first period; T.J. Brennan had five himself that period).

Maybe most impressive, they outhit the Crunch by a wide margin. Defenseman Joe Finley was a horse in the defensive zone, and coach Ron Rolston’s new shut-down pairing with Shaone Morrisonn was again impressive. Marcus Foligno and Zack Kassian won the majority of their battles on the walls, and in open ice. Max Legault had two big checks to get the hit parade started in the first period. Even Paul Szczechura bounced down D Nick Schaus with a solid shoulder check in open ice.

“There were a couple more collisions that could have been up there on the scoreboard,” Foligno said, referring to the “collision of the game” that featured checks by Legault and Finley.

Said Rolston: “I liked the competitive nature of our gys. We had to play a certain way to negate them and we did.”

* * * * * * *

The line of Colin Stuart-Szczechura-Kassian was very impressive again. They hit, they moved the puck, the attacked with speed, the found seams, they created something out of nothing and they had shots (16 as a line, 6 by Stuart, 5 each by the other two).

“Both of my linemates bring a lot to the table,” said Stuart, who has scored 3-3-6 in the past four games. He pointed to the physicality of Kassian and said Szczechura ”is as skilled as they come in this league.”

* * * * * * *

Center Mark Voakes, who was between Derek Whitmore and Foligno, made a great play to set up Foligno’s winning goal. He got the puck in the deep slot during a power-play scramble and then angled to the left, waiting and waiting and waiting without shooting or passing.

“It’s a read play, a feel, a sense,” he said. “I was dragging it away from the net, just trying to suck them over,” he said of goalie Iiro Tarkki and the defense.

Finally he zipped a pass that Foligno, between the hash marks, fired into a mostly open net.

Except Foligno wasn’t the target.

“I was honestly trying to hit ’Mo’ (Morrisonn),” Voakes said. “He was even more wide open. Marcus was on the ground when I released but he got up on his knee and shot.”

That proves the patience Voakes showed. “I had tiume to fall down and get up, or at least get up on my knee,” Foligno said.

“He has unbelievable patience. Whenever he has the puck you can’t lift your stick off the ice because he’s going to put the puck on it.”

* * * * * * *

Lost a little bit in the victory was the really good play of goalie David Leggio (22 saves). His best stops came at critical times, like on Bodie just 11 seconds after Stuart had put the Amerks ahead 2-1.

Drew MacIntyre may be on recall to the Buffalo Sabres but Leggio showed he’s more than willing — and capable — of being the No. 1 here.

* * * * * * *

Rolston said he has really liked the way his team is learning to play in the D-zone, especially the physicality his defensemen are showing. Morrisonn and Finley are big but others like Brennan and Drew Schiestel are finishing checks and eliminating players.

Finley is playing himself into an NHL contract. If not from the Sabres, then from another team. He has really been good.

“He’s hungry,” Rolston said. “He knows what he has to do, he knows what type of player he has to be to move up to the next level.”

David Leggio (4-3, 3.21, .894) will start in goal for the Amerks. Iiro Tarkki, who was very sharp in a 6-2 win over Rochester on Nov. 5, goes for the Crunch. His stats: 3-3-1, 2.23, .924.

For the Amerks, RW Corey Tropp is back up with the Buffalo Sabres. He went up because Cody McCormick still can’t play.

Also, LW Riley Boychuk was sent to Gwinnett of the ECHL and RW Jacob Lagace can’t play due to injury (he took a Shaone Morrisonn shot off the ankle/foot in practice on Tuesday and came up lame today).

That means the Amerks will have only 10 healthy forwards, so either at least one defenseman will play the wing, or coach Ron Rolston will rely on three lines and spot shift the 10th forward here and there.

In recent games, he has dressed 11 forwards and 7 defensemen but kept all the D-men on the back end and just double-shifted a winger on the fourth line.

7:16 p.m.: Patrick Maroon of the Crunch called for boarding for a hit on Paul Szczechura at 5:45. Not a penalty, but Marcus Vinnerborg saw it as one.

* * * * * * *

7:21 p.m.: Nothing of major consequence yet. The Amerks had decent power-play pressure, with four shots in a span of about 17 seconds by T.J. Brennan from his newest PP spot — between the hash marks — but Tarkki stopped them all.

With 10:29 to go in the first, 0-0.

* * * * * * *

7:28 p.m.: Max Legault has had a few guys lined up this year since his return six games ago but his time has been a bit off. Tonight he was dead-on on time, twice blasting down Crunch D-man Mike Ratchuk behind the Syracuse net in the 12th minute.

*******

7:41 p.m.: End of the first period, 0-0. The Amerks controlled the pace, had a big edge in territorial play, and outshot Syracuse 14-3. Still, they couldn’t score and Tarkki was never really in trouble.

* * * * * * *

8:04 p.m.: The Crunch take the lead on a goal by John Mitchell 3:10 into the first period.

Defenseman Bryan Rodney set him up for a one-time in the right circle. Legault couldn’t catch up to a puck that was sliding out toward the point, and Rodney held it in, avoided the diving Legault, then moved into the left of the slot before making the pass to Mitchell.

* * * * * * *

8:08 p.m.: The Amerks tied the score at 5:30, 10 seconds after a power play ends, as Brennan drives a slap shot from above the right circle into the top right side of the net. I’m guessing Tarkki had to be screened by a body or stick, because there’s no way that shot should go in.

It’s Brennan’s second goal of the season. 1-1.

* * * * * * *

8:15 p.m.: The line of Paul Szczechura, Colin Stuart and Zack Kassian continues to really play well. They have been dangerous often tonight.

Also playing well: the Amerks shut-down defensive pairing of Shaone Morrisonn and Joe Finley. Two minutes ago Finley smooshed Kyle Palmieri into the end boards.

Just now, he ended a rush into the zone by Sean Zimmerman by pasting the former Amerk into the side wall.

*******

13:24: Finely had another big hit, shoulder down Troy Bodie in open ice at 12:20. A minute later, Foligno went dancing through the defense on the fast-break rush but Tarkki made the save.

* * * * * * *

8:30 p.m.: Vinnerborg makes a call — or rather, opts not to — and he should be applauded.

Brennan had the stick chopped out of his hand by a slash from Mitchell and the referee didn’t call a penalty. Thank you. Just hang on to the stick.

If the stick breaks, I understand. If it’s simply knocked out of the hands, put the onus on the player to hang on to his own stick. It’s a battle for a puck.

* * * * * * *

8:34 p.m.: The Amerks haven’t scored on their four power plays but they have had pressure and chances on every one.

End of two periods, still 1-1. Shots 31-10.

Attendance is 3,141.

* * * * * * *

8:39 p.m.: Of note from the stat sheet: 10 shots for the Stuart (4)-Szczechura (3)-Kassian (3) line. Whitmore (4)-Foligno (3)-Voakes (0) have 7. Brennan has 6, five on power plays.

* * * * * * *

8:55 p.m.: Stuart with a great shot off a great pass from Brennan and the Amerks take the 2-1 lead just 29 seconds into the third period, connecting before a power play ends.

Brayden McNabbb made a good play with the puck near the left point and it went to Kassian on the left-wing half-wall. He found Brennan in the middle of the slot, and a quick pass over to the right circle set up Stuart for the one-timer.

Stuart’s sixth goal.

* * * * * * *

9 p.m.: A bad delay of game penalty by Szczechura — he backhanded the puck into the stands as he was exiting the Amerks zone — leads to a Crunch power-play goal by Peter Holland at 3:39.

And when the goal went it, a delayed penalty was upcoming, so the Crunch go back to a full two-minute power play.

Game is tied 2-2.

* * * * * * *

9:16 p.m.: Dan Sexton was a scoring dynamo in back-to-back games against the Amerks (nine points) Nov. 5-6. Tonight, his first real appearance comes as he takes a tripping penalty at 11:57 of the third period.

2-2 as the Amerks go to a power play.

* * * * * * *

9:20 p.m.: The Amerks super-hot power play connects again, at 13:50, as Foligno fires home a pass from Voakes.

Terrific patience by Voakes as he got the puck in the slot but angled to his left, drew Tarkki over, waited a bit more for the opening, then passed between the hash marks for Foligno. With an open net, he just had to hammer it past two defensemen and did so for his sixth goal.

Amerks up 3-2.

* * * * * * *

9:30 p.m.: With 1:30 to go, still 3-2 Amerks.

* * * * * * *

9:32 p.m.: Tarkki is pulled, the Crunch with six attackers and call their time out with 38.5 seconds to go. Rolston goes with Voakes, Stuart, Szczechura, and Morrisonn and Brennan on D.

** On the recall front, goalie Drew MacIntyre will stay up with the Buffalo Sabres indefinitely. Goalie Ryan Miller is bothered by whiplash-like symptoms and there is no timetable for his return.

MacIntyre went up on Sunday and got lots of face time on Versus Monday night when the Sabres played the Canadiens in Montreal. He was seated directly behind Pierre McGuire, so every time the camera went to McGuire for analysis, MacIntyre was in the background (nice hat, by the way).

David Leggio will start for the Amerks inWednesday’s home game against Syracuse. Jeff Jakaitis has been called up from Gwinnett of the ECHL to be the backup.

** No injured Amerks will return for Wednesday’s game against Syracuse. LW Michael Ryan is skating (with a full cage) but isn’t cleared for contact. D Dennis Persson(lower body) isn’t even skating. C Travis Turnbull (head) is questionable/probable for Friday’s home game against Toronto.

Binghamton’s Tim Conboy was given a two-game suspension for his hit on Turnbull in Friday’s game. Conboy sat out Sunday while awaiting league review of the incident (he was assessed a match penalty, so suspension was immediate). The league added on one more game, so Conboy can’t play tonight at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

** There is speculation in Buffalo that, with Cody McCormick unable to play for the Sabres due to facial injuries, a recall could be coming.

The Sabres are home to play New Jersey on Wednesday, are at Carolina on Friday and home with Phoenix on Saturday. Corey Tropp played pretty well during his four-game callup when Patrick Kaleta was suspended.

Considering the Devils are Wednesday’s opponent, any mistake is usually magnified, so perhaps the Sabres would want the experience and dependability of Colin Stuart. He has played extremely well of late. Derek Whitmore also would work, and certainly deserves a chance. This is his fourth pro season in the Sabres system and he has yet to get one NHL game.

There’s a chance Zack Kassian, who also has played well, might deserve a look, just to see where he’s at in terms of development and also foot speed. He is developing better consistency, and playing on a line with Stuart helps a lot.

** Until Turnbull and Ryan are back, Amerks coach Ron Rolston will quite likely continue to use seven defensemen in games. He said he and his staff have become comfortable with using seven D-men, rather than trying to force a defenseman to play up front.

“We haven’t found the person on the fourth line we’re comfortable with,” Rolston said.

Thus, they’ll stick with 11 forwards and rotate one of those forwards into double-shifting when the fourth line is up. Marcus Foligno had a lot of that role on Sunday.

** If you didn’t see, Jeff LoVecchio is back with the Florida Panthers AHL team. LoVecchio came to the Amerks in a January trade with Boston/Providence but was playing with Utah of the ECHL this season.

As per a report by Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News, the Buffalo Sabres say that goalie Ryan Miller has a concussion and goalie Drew MacIntyre has been recalled from the Rochester Americans.

Too bad the Amerks don’t still have Steve MacIntyre. That way they could settle the score when the Bruins come to Buffalo on Nov. 23.

As it is, the Sabres can’t even pretend they’re going to do anything to Milan Lucic, not when the Bruins have an arsenal that includes Zdeno Chara (there probably isn’t anyone tougher in hockey) and Shawn Thornton.

Miller was hurt when he was run over by Lucic during the first period of Saturday’s game in Boston, a 6-2 win by the Bruins.

The Sabres piled into the corner after Lucic, but really, they did nothing.

Interestingly, the Sabres tonight specified the injury as a concussion. Usually, the Sabres and pretty much every team says upper body or lower body. They don’t say concussion. Amerks coach Ron Rolston barely even says injury. Sometimes a player is simply “out” in his terminology. And he is employed by the Sabres.

This time, however, the Sabres made it clear it’s a concussion. So is this their attempt to force the league to act more harshly. The NHL is adamant about ending hits to the head, so with Miller concussed, the Sabres are pretty much putting the onus on the NHL to act swiftly and with force.

That’s something the Sabres themselves couldn’t (wouldn’t?) do during the game. There was a time when running over the goalie would spark on-ice mayhem. The Sabres cowered on Saturday.

Yes, Lucic is a big, strong man. The Sabres obviously all know it because they didn’t make him pay for bowling over their goalie. They didn’t run him, hack him, they just danced with him in the corner briefly in the post-hit scrum.

Can a team without muscle or without a gang of fearless players ever go deep in the playoffs? No. How the Sabres respond will be very interesting.

Maybe the Sabres should call in one of their scouts, Al MacAdam, and have him tell the boys how he and his Minnesota North Stars teammates decided to end the intimidation tactics by the Bruins on Feb. 26, 1981. There were eight fights in the first period. I’m not sure the North Stars lost one of them. It started on the opening faceoff when Bobby Smith fought Keith Crowder. A little later, Jack Carlson beat Terry O’Reilly (yeah, that Jack Carlson, one of trio of brothers who were the basis for the Hanson brothers in Slap Shot.

In that era, as middleweights went, there wasn’t anyone tougher in that class in the NHL than MacAdam and Chicago Blackhawks winger Curt Fraser.

By the way, the North Stars advanced to the Stanley Cup finals that spring, bouncing out the Sabres along the way, but they weren’t quite good enough to get past the New York Islanders.

As for the Amerks, Drew MacIntyre’s recall comes just when he was finally getting hot. He stopped 35 shots in a 3-1 win over Binghamton on Friday and made 43 saves in a 2-1 victory over Grand Rapids on Saturday.

We’ll have to assume MacIntyre won’t be back before Wednesday, in which case David Leggio will get the start against the Syracuse Crunch.

I think it’s safe to say the goalie rotation is over for the Rochester Americans.

Drew MacIntyre proved Friday and tonight that he should play — at least until he falters.

Or until he’s called up to play for the Buffalo Sabres. That could happen if whatever injury Ryan Miller sustained tonight prevent him from playing (or backing up) in Montreal on Monday.

Miller was run over in the crease by Milan Lucic in the first period and, while he played through the end of the second, he did not play the third. There’s a link at the end of this post to John Vogl’s post-game report in the Buffalo News blog. Read it. Miller goes off on Lucic in his post-game comments, referring to him as a POS.

Stay tuned on Sunday.

MacIntyre surely will start again for the Amerks against Syracuse on Wednesday if he isn’t on recall. A two-time second-team AHL All-Star, MacIntyre was ultra sharp in both games this weekend. He made 35 saves to defeat Binghamton 3-1 on Friday. Tonight he stopped 43 shots in a 2-1 win over Grand Rapids.

It’s the type of play he expected, the coaching staff expected, pretty much what everyone expected. But heading into Friday, he was just 1-4-1 with a 3.31 GAA and .877 save percentage.

“I’ve never really been a good starter,” he said of his early season play. “I’ve definitely got to do something about that. But once I get in a rhythm, I seem to keep it going.”

It’s quite clear that he didn’t like rotating. But he also knew he had done nothing to earn the right to start again and again.

“It’s been a frustrating year, up until this weekend,” he said. “That Adirondack game (a 3-1 loss at home on Oct. 23), I lost the game for us. My biggest thing is that sometimes I get too hard on myself.”

He talked with the coaching staff about alternating with David Leggio. “I knew coming here, I knew ‘Ledge’ is a tough goalie, that playing time wouldn’t be handed to me.”

Coach Ron Rolston stuck with the rotation because he had to have believe neither goalie had earned the right to be No. 1. Oh, he wanted to see one of them step forward. He just hadn’t. Until Friday, when MacIntyre earned the right to play again.

“He did a real good job for us last night and tonight he went back in and showed us why he’s the goalie he is,” Rolston said.

* * * * * * *

Travis Turnbull didn’t play due to the hit to the head he took on Friday from Binghamton’s Tim Conboy. Rolston said he’s day-to-day and that, rather than risk further injury tonight, he’ll be needed against the Crunch on Wednesday.

Both D-men went fishing with the stick on a Brian Lashoff rush and the Griffins defenseman, who had just one goal in his first 65 games as a pro, ended up looking like Sidney Crosby.

Lashoff avoided a sweep check by Schiestel at the blue line, sidestepped Phil Varone, swooped past a Biega sweep check and then slipped the puck under MacIntyre, tying the game at 14:51.

* * * * * * *

8:11 p.m.: End of one period, 1-1. Shots 11-8 Grand Rapids.

*******

8:31 p.m.: A terrific save by McCollum — kicking his left leg across the goal mouth — to stop a point-blank try by Whitmore off a Mark Voakes pass while killing a penalty at 2:35.

Still 2-1 early in the second.

* * * * * * *

8:35 p.m.: Attendance is 4,711.

* * * * * * *

8:51 p.m.: MacIntyre with two really clutch saves in a goal-mouth scramble, keeping his right leg flush to the ice and anchored on the post so it couldn’t be pushed into the net.

Finally D Joe Finley ended the scramble by shoving Jamie Johnson into the post and knocked the net off. Whistle and roughing. A needed whistle, though.

That’s just the third power play of the game (two on Finley this period, one to the Griffins in the first).

* * * * * * *

8:59 p.m.: Colin Stuart scores his fifth goal of the season, one-timing a perfect pass from Finley, and the Amerks go up 2-1 at 18:36 of the second period.

Stuart was just above the hash marks when he put his whole body into the shot, falling to his belly as the shot went five-hole on McCollum.

The whole play began about 25 seconds earlier, after Paul Szczechura bunted down a chest-high Sebastien Piche clearing try right at the blue line.

End of 2, Amerks up 2-1. Shots are 29-17 Griffins.

* * * * * * *

9:25 p.m.: MacIntyre is doing his best to show he deserves to start again and again. He turned a point-blank shot by Trevor Parkes at 2:54 into a faceoff, giving the Griffins winger nothing to shoot at before smothering the shot.

* * * * * * *

9:39 p.m.: Griffins center Louis-Marc Aubry took a big run at Stuart on the wall as the Amerks captain was moving the puck out of the zone, and missed. He hit the wall hard.

Then as the play came into the Griffins zone, he took at run at Stuart on the left-wing wall. Stuart braced for it, and somehow Aubry got the worst of it again as he fell.

With 7:30 to go, Amerks still up 2-1, but they’re hanging on and letting MacIntyre make saves.

* * * * * * *

9:45 p.m.: Kassian was basically on his knees battling for a puck behind the Griffins net and was whacked in the mouth or chin by the stick of Piche.

He wanted to know why there wasn’t a penalty and, after a whistle and broadcast timeout, Stuart went to chat with referee Jamie Koharski for an explanation.

Not sure what the reasoning was — maybe that the stick wasn’t really high, I have no idea — but they did chat and Stuart got the reasoning.

5 minutes to go, still 2-1.

*******

9:49 p.m.: From an Amerk perspective, it’s good they’re still ahead 2-1.

From an Amerk perspective, it’s not good that they’ve been outshot 44-28. MacIntyre is why they’re ahead.

Rochester Institute of Technology’s proposed new hockey rink will be called the Gene Polisseni Center, thanks to a combined $4.5 million gift made today by Tom Golisano and the Polisseni Foundation.

The donation was announced during the first intermission of tonight’s Atlantic Hockey Association game between the Tigers and Air Force.

RIT hockey, Rochester’s only NCAA Division I athletic program, is in the midst of a fund-raising campaign to raise $15 million from the general public to help build a $30 million arena.

Friday’s gift is the largest donation to Tigers Power Play— the Campaign for RIT Hockey. The school will fund the remainder of the project.

“My father believed that sports were key to building a strong sense of community,” Gary Polisseni, Polisseni Foundation board member, said in a statement released by RIT. “The success of RIT’s hockey program has become a unifying force for the Rochester community, and the Polisseni Foundation is proud to enhance that connection through its commitment to help build the Gene Polisseni Center.”

The late Eugene Polisseni, a 1958 graduate of Irondequoit High School, was a sports enthusiast and a vice president at Paychex, the Fortune 500 company founded by Golisano.

Polisseni, who died in 2001 at age 61, is credited with starting the Pop Warner football program in Irondequoit and was a big hockey backer as well. He and his wife, Wanda, founded the Polisseni Foundation and the organization strives to improve the quality of life in the Rochester area.

Golisano and Polisseni were childhood friends. When the Buffalo Sabres played an NHL regular-season game in Rochester in the fall of 2003, Golisano, then the Sabres owner, dedicated the game to Polisseni’s memory.

The Polisseni Foundation has been active in community endeavors. In 2004, $5 million was donated to Rochester General Hospital in Gene Polisseni’s memory.

Golisano, who owned the Sabres from spring 2003 until February 2011, remains chairman of the board for Paychex and is an RIT trustee. He has just recently expressed interest in buying Major League Baseball’s Los Angeles Dodgers out of bankruptcy.

RIT graduate Stephen Schultz, co-founder and chief technical officer at Pictometry, and his wife, Vicki Schultz (also an RIT alum) presented the campaign’s opening gift of $1 million. And last April, Trans-Lux Corp. and RIT alumnus J.M. Allain issued an additional $1 million commitment to the campaign in the form of a scoreboard.

The American Hockey League announced the Hall of Fame Class of 2012. The Rochester Americans had permission to break the news of one honoree — Joe Crozier — back on Oct. 13.

Crozier, who played some defense in the early years of the franchise, coached the team to its first three Calder Cups (1965, ’66 and ’68).

He also was a valuable sounding board and mentor for coach John Van Boxmeer from 1985-86 through 1989-90. when he was the liason between Rochester and the parent Buffalo Sabres.

Also going into the Hall are Zellio Toppazzini, one of the greatest scorers in Providence Reds history; John Stevens, a stalwart on defense with the Philadelphia Flyers’ AHL affiliates in the 1980s and 1990s, and Jack Gordon, who coached the 1956-57 Cleveland Barons to the Cup and was the Barons’ GM when the team won the Cup in 1963-64.

The Amerks produced a really good tribute video to Crozier that played on the video board during opening-night festivities. It’s now on YouTube, and you can access it from this link:

About Kevin

Kevin Oklobzija has been covering the Rochester Americans and the American Hockey League, as well as the Buffalo Sabres and the NHL, since the puck dropped on the 1985-86 pro hockey season. He has covered the Calder Cup and Stanley Cup playoffs, as well as hockey at the Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, Salt Lake City and Turin, Italy. Hockey's O-Zone will provide news and views on the sport. If you have a comment, Email Kevin, and we'll even make it easy for you -- you don't even need to spell his last name: kevino@democratandchronicle.com.